The Great Torino team that dominated Italian football in the 40s, until the tragic Superga accident, had that final quarter of an hour in which it was capable of overturning any result. A type of trance competitive in which everything became possible, with the Filadelfia Stadium poised to become the scene of feats that have gone down in history. In sports, there are athletes who later go down in history as champions, capable of making something that is anything but ordinary seem normal. Mattia Agostinacchio seems to be one of those, it's too early to say but the signs are visible and give us hope. (in open photo Photopress.be).
The King of the Last Laps
The same Daniel Pontoni, the Italian cross-country player, was amazed when he witnessed the “fifteen minutes of Granata” of the younger of the two brothers from the Aosta Valley for the first time. Last Sunday in Namur, in the World Cup race which coincided with the return to the mud of Mathieu van der Poel, Mattia Agostinacchio repeated himself. Testlow on the handlebars and legs hammering on the pedals, curve after curve, obstacle after obstacle. The eighteen-year-old boy, who from 2026 will be in the WorldTour with the colors of the EF Education EasyPost, in those last two laps he kept the same pace as the seven-time world cross champion, keeping the gap unchanged and finishing the race in thirteenth place.
«Last year they called him the King of the final laps», the voice and the look are those of the older brother, Philip Augustine, who until three weeks ago was Mattia's trainer and saw him grow. «What he did in Namur he also did at the junior world championships in Liévin in February and at the European Championships in Middelkerke last November (with success in both tests, ed.)».
Where does this gift come from?
Mattia has a huge anaerobic engine, something that many athletes have. It's about the ability to go "in block" as they say in jargon, for several minutes.
What aspect makes the difference?
The duration, The time you can stay in this red zone without going off-kilter and "exploding" is what separates the good riders from the champions.It's a quality everyone looks for on the road, because it's proven to be the one that makes the difference. In cyclocross, the difference is more noticeable because it's truly an innate gift.
What's happening in Mattia?
It must be said that these are not fifteen continuous minutes, because the effort in cyclocross is made up of many passages under a minute. However, Mattia is able to string together a series of short, extraordinary efforts.. Furthermore, there is another very important aspect.
What?
Stop making mistakes. I can't explain what happens or why, but he doesn't do anything wrong anymore.. Enter a flow incredible psychological. You look at it from the outside and the only thing you can say is: "I don't know."
Let's start with athletic ability: how much is it innate and how much can you work on it?
Surely his background, off-roading helps him a lot. Mattia has always raced mountain bike and cross country, this allows the body to develop certain skillsHowever, there is also a genetic part, because I also have this quality, albeit in a smaller percentage. It's a mix of genetics, the environment we grew up in, and our response to that environment..
The technical part, instead?
That comes from the fact that Mattia grew up with a bicycle next to him for as long as he can remember. Even when he was little, before he could even walk, he used to go around on those little push bikes for children.Learning to balance and ride a bike from an early age allowed him to develop unparalleled technical skills.
In what sense?
I started riding a bike when I was older, and I don't have the technical and riding skills Mattia has. And I might never be able to match them; the work would be too much.
How do you transport these final fifteen minutes of Mattia's work onto the road?
I think it's the equivalent of arriving fresh and focused in the final sectors of a race. At a driving level I would translate it into the ability to drive in a group when the tension rises, polishing up and staying ahead in the heat of the moment. Athletic quality is what makes the difference between placing and winning. The difference on the road is that the quarter of an hour could be continuous, or in any case made up of longer intervalsIt's been on the road for so long that we have no idea what its potential margins are, but now that it's been transferred to EF Education-EasyPost, it's in excellent hands.
